Chris Froome versus Alberto Contador could make this year’s Tour a classic

Reuters, PARIS

Contador proved in winning last year’s Vuelta that he never gives up, taking the overall lead in the 17th stage after launching a devastating surprise attack.

Should he and Froome falter, the indefatigable Cadel Evans, winner of the Tour in 2011, will be ready to step up, as well as fellow Australian Richie Porte, the Sky No. 2.

“Richie’s results this year have been fantastic,” Sky coach Tim Kerrison said. “He’s a very, very good stage racer and a strong GC [general classification] contender.”

The battle for the points classification green jersey is likely to be between Slovakia’s Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish, although the Briton would be happy with a brief spell in yellow.

“I would like to wear the yellow jersey after the first stage in Corsica,” said Cavendish, who is 11 stages shy of Eddy Merckx’s all-time Tour record of 34 wins. “It’s the only one of the three Grand Tours where I haven’t worn the leader’s jersey, so I’d like to do that.”